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OUR HISTORY

AN UNEQUALLED REPORTED HISTORY

Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water is sourced from a unique naturally occurring mineral spring in Lancashire – which has provided continuous water for over 400 years.

The spring and its water have been the subject of reports and commentary since Elizabethan times as to the curative benefits of the water.

Numerous historical reports and articles describe the healing benefits and curative effects of the water for local people who drank from the spring – the spring itself was famous and its water had such a beneficial mineral content that it was noted as having healed a lame woman in 1839.

The spring had remained unnoticed and buried for over a century until the current landowner, who on hearing of it’s unique history and benefits decided to unearth the spring so that it’s water could be shared once more with the public as our revitalising drink ‘Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water’.

Publications

THE HISTORY OF OUR SPRING

‘There is a sulphurous water at Mawdesley, moderately saline, which is of great benefit to sickly people who are troubled with decline, or decay of internal parts’.

The information on who conducted the survey is limited, but the name Gowan and the year 1689 are mentioned.

Below are extracts taken from publications written at the when the spring was first referenced and during it’s life when it was recognised for it’s alleged ‘healing waters’ – Click on the dates and titles below (in blue) to read more about the history of Angel Revive’s spring.

1700: Charles Leigh

Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire

Around 1690, Charles Leigh, a physician visited the spring at Salt Pit Farm and documented in his journal comparisons about the water, to the then famous healing water springs and baths in Harrogate. These springs had already been recognised by Harrogate’s physicians as having healing powers that could cure a variety of ailments with patients advised to drink or bathe in the water to relieve their ailments. Leigh further continued to suggest that the Mawdesley spring be transformed into a public area , where patrons could bath and drink the water. Having similar qualities, it would allow nearby patrons to have their illnesses or ailments cured locally.

1740: Dr. Thomas Short

The History of the Principle of Mineral Waters

Short will have visited the Mawdesley spring well around 1730. In his journal, he records an unsuccessful attempt to obtain salt from the field around 1612 with the area then being forgotten about until 1660 when two gentlemen attempted to conduct boring operations which were once again abandoned for an unknown reason. Short continues to comment on the high mineral content, especially sulphur, the medicinal qualities of the water and how it could benefit people who could both drink or bathe in the water. Short also recognised the water had previously cured cutaneous disorders and ulcers.

1838: November - Preston Chronicle

Preston Chronicle

The recognition of the curative powers of the spring, and interest from physicians, led to a visit from a Preston Chronicle reporter. At the time of the visit, Thomas Joseph Trafford Esq. owned the land the spring occupied, leasing Salt Pit House to a William Occleshaw, who tended his livestock on the field the spring occupied. During the visit, Occleshaw explained to the reporter ‘that pigeons yet resort to the fountains in summer; that flocks of linnets visit it, and carry away water in their bills for their young; and that cows, on being first put to pasture in the field, immediately made to the spring, and drink with great avidity’. He then assured Short that ‘the disease of murrain has never been to visit the cattle on that farm’.

Murrain, literally meant death in those times and was an umbrella term for a multitude of now known illnesses including; rinderpest, erysipelas, foot-and-mouth, anthrax, and streptococcus infections, some of which could transfer to humans. These illnesses would always inevitably lead to death.

The physicians’ interest led to many medical men meeting at the field. After one such meeting, three doctors and a man from Liverpool returned the following day, with the latter gentleman, entering into a contract with Trafford to lease the field.Each of the medical men were excited about the water, all agreeing ‘that the water was equal to the famous Harrogate water’. They also expressed pity ‘that such a spring had been so long unknown and neglected’.

The Preston Chronicle report stated the spring had ‘recently been cleaned out, and that crowds of people continue to frequent it. It is therefore useless to make a journey to Harrogate, when such a fountain springs up at Mawdesley, in our own immediate neighbourhood, whose waters are declared by all to possess a healing in their draught’. This report reiterated what Leigh had predicted the previous century.

1839: March - Preston Chronicle

Preston Chronicle

The claims of curative powers continued. A woman named Ditchfield from Rufford, had been confined to crutches for seven years since her childhood, due to an accident causing injury to her leg and ankle. After hearing about the ‘Mawdesley Salt Pit’, she visited the spring to collect some water to use as a lotion on her leg injury. After a short period ‘she experienced great benefit from its use, and is now, to her great pleasure and astonishment, enabled to walk without crutches – and perform her work and journeys with the greatest ease and comfort’.

1839: April - Preston Chronicle

Preston Chronicle

The Preston Chronicle returned to the spring shortly after the report about Miss Ditchfield and witnessed four men boring down into the spring to allow the water to be drawn more quickly. The workmen had reached a depth of approximately 45 feet, reaching a stratum of white rock which they said was softer than some of the other substances through which they had bored.

The leader of the boring operations was unwilling to divulge what those other substances were, and the reporter noticed that the tools were covered with a white incrustation like boar frost. A Liverpool gentleman called Mr Neville, and a company of five or six others were investing £6000 which was a considerable amount of money in those days. The reporter also noticed evidence of previous boring operations that had probably failed in the past.

1840: July - Preston Chronicle

Preston Chronicle

On return nine months later, the reporter comments that the spring water had now been analysed and pronounced equal to other curative waters in England, that of Harrogate, and Cheltenham. The papers’ readers had all been made aware of the spring with the Preston Chronicle stating ‘many having experienced the healing powers themselves’.

The report continued to they ‘had heard some time about the exclusion of the public from availing themselves of its salubrious qualities; and it affords us great pleasure to have it in our power to record the determination of the owners of the estate to admit the public gratuitously to partake of the water’.

For unknown reasons, the Mawdesley Spring was covered over and all the information about the spring well ceased in the 1840’s. The landowner’s quest to keep the spring open to members of the public may have failed as no more written articles referencing the spring can be sourced.

Almost 180 years since the last recording of the spring, a new owner fascinated by the history of the well and the claims of healing benefits of water rich in minerals, was determined to find the historic spring that had generated so much interest – the spring was rediscovered and work has started on reopening the spring.

The original spring has been uncovered and cleared with the natural rocks from which the waters emerge exposed. Those rocks formed the shape of an Angel and from that discovery; the name of our water “Angel Revive” was selected.

1968: George Birtill

Follow Any Stream

Correlates with the previous paragraph and references of some boring shafts still present at Salt Pit Farm that dates back to 1962. The book also tells of a well of fresh water that never runs dry in front of the farm house. ‘Before water came out of taps…’ the author writes, ‘people journeyed miles to this well during droughts’.

Please note: Historical articles

The stories and reports setting out the history of healing are taken from historical records and newspaper articles from the previous four centuries. The reports were discovered in the local Harris Museum when we researched the history of the spring and historical texts.

Angel Revive Angel

A historic map of the area

Preston Chronicle 17th November 1938

Preston Chronicle 13th April 1839

Preston Chronicle 30th March 1939

Preston Chronicle 25th July 1840

Angel Revive Angel

Rediscovering the spring

The spring had remained unnoticed and buried for over a century, with no reports of it since the 1840’s, until it’s history and benefits were brought to the attention of the current landowner.

The current landowner of the spring now wishes to share this water with the general public via Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water.

Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water is unique: with its historical reports and articles about the spring setting out the benefits of the water, combined with the Angel rock formation at the core of the spring– the belief in its benefits are in our view well founded.

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NB: We as a business are not saying Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water can heal you. The belief is yours.

Our Water

Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Water is a refreshing revitalising drink with an unrivalled history – it is sourced from a unique naturally occurring mineral spring in Lancashire – which has provided continuous water for over 500 years.

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Legal disclaimer

The stories and reports about the history of our water are taken from historical records and newspaper articles and should not be considered as scientific fact. The health benefits of drinking alkaline water are based on acknowledged scientific data. Every effort is made to ensure that the information presented is accurate and up-to-date, but no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors, omissions or misleading statements. Angel Revive Natural Alkaline Spring Water is not making any claim that drinking our water has any medicinal benefits. The belief is yours.